Benny Shanon
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Benny Shanon (Hebrew: בני שאנון; born 1948) is a professor of Psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and holds the Mandel Chair in Cognitive Psychology and Education.
Born in Tel Aviv, Shanon studied philosophy and linguistics at Tel Aviv University and received his doctorate in experimental psychology from Stanford University. He is author of the 2002 book Antipodes of the Mind: Charting the Phenomenology of the Ayahuasca Experience published by Oxford University Press.
Benny Shanon is known for his controversial theory that the patriarch Moses was under the influence of hallucinogens when he received the law. Specifically, he believes that a psychedelic cocktail similar to ayahuasca may explain Moses's vision of the burning bush: "In advanced forms of ayahuasca inebriation, the seeing of light is accompanied by profound religious and spiritual feelings."[1]
